More than a third of children living in poverty in some of UK’s biggest cities
More than a third of youngsters are living in child poverty in some of the UK’s biggest cities, new figures suggest.
Some 40.8% of children under the age of 16 in Birmingham were in relative low income families in 2022/23, along with 40.6% in Leicester, 40.0% in Nottingham and 39.4% in Manchester, according to data from the Department for Work and Pensions.
A household is considered to be in relative poverty if its income is below 60% of the current median average.
Other areas where the proportion is at least a third include Oldham (42.2%), Stoke-on-Trent (38.3%) and Glasgow (33.5%).
Pendle in Lancashire had the highest level of any UK local authority, at 43.2%.
All of these areas have recorded a rise in the percentage of children in relative low income families since the pre-pandemic year of 2019/20, and also since 2014/15 when the current data begins.
Just over half (52%) of all UK local authorities have seen an increase in the proportion of children in child poverty since 2019/20, while around nine in 10 (91%) recorded a higher level in 2022/23 than in 2014/15.
Responding to the figures, the said it was helping people on the
